The Great Escape
by mosylu
Summary: They were tied up back-to-back on a hard, chilly cement floor, duct tape in a double figure-eight around their four wrists. There were bad guys with guns outside the door of the room. There was probably going to be mayhem any moment. Basically it was a Tuesday in Central City.


(A/N) To fill an anonymous Tumblr dialogue prompt: "This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had. Of course I'm in." Killervibe shenanigans were requested. Yaaaay shenanigans!

* * *

Caitlin was silent for a long moment after Cisco outlined his idea.

"Well?" he pressed.

"That is, without a doubt, the stupidest plan you've ever had."

"That's not a no, Cait." Though she couldn't see him, she could hear the triumphant smile in his voice.

She dropped her head back. It bonked against his. He said, "Ow," mildly.

"Fine. Fine. I'm in."

"Yussssss!"

Against all reason, he sounded delighted. They were tied up back-to-back on a hard, chilly cement floor, duct tape in a double figure-eight around their four wrists. There were bad guys with guns outside the door of the room. There was probably going to be mayhem any moment. Basically it was a Tuesday in Central City.

"Why are you happy about that?"

"Come on, go, go, go!"

She shook her head and focused on the windows across the room, heavy industrial glass with iron bars on the outside. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Cisco shivered slightly against her back. She wove her fingers through his, and he squeezed.

She focused her powers, pulling heat into that always-needy ice core of hers. Frost started to sprinkle the bars like powdered sugar, and as she pulled harder, they turned fully white.

Cisco asked over his shoulder, "Where are you at?"

"About 80 Kelvin. Give me a minute."

"Whoa, already? Are you getting faster at this?"

"I'm focusing on a smaller area. Let me concentrate." She pulled. "Okay. 70. Your turn."

He turned his head so he could see the windows. He'd been working on hands-free, but his sonar wasn't nearly as good as Caitlin's heat-sense yet and he still needed to see to aim.

Caitlin felt the muscles of his back tense against hers, and she braced herself.

"Boom," he whispered.

The backlash still knocked her sideways, and since she was tied to Cisco, she dragged him with her. They both wound up flat on the floor.

"Are you okay?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Un-hunh," he said, voice muffled against the cement. "Window?"

"It's down." The boom had shattered the bars and the glass. The heat sources outside the door were shifting, moving closer.

And oh, yes. They were still duct-taped together.

"Dammit, Cisco," she muttered, more annoyed at herself than him. She was supposed to be the practical one. Shouldn't she have brought this up already?

She focused on the tape around her wrists, pulling in heat. The glue gave out, the plastic went brittle, and she yanked her hands apart.

As she pushed herself to her feet, he rolled to his own with surprising agility considering his hands were still fastened behind his back. "Awesome!" he crowed.

"Cisco," she snarled, freezing the workings of the door latch. "A little help."

"Oh, right." He aimed a boom at a fair-sized wheeled cabinet and set it skidding across the door.

"Nice," she said.

"Thanks. Hey, how's that ice knife trick of yours?" Cisco theorized that if she cooled a large volume of air slowly, it would bring enough water vapor together that she could then freeze into tools.

"Not ready yet," she said. So far she'd mostly created clouds. "But I've got something else. Hold still."

She focused on the smallest possible point of the duct tape where it crisscrossed between his wrists. She would never forgive herself if she gave him frostbite, especially on his hands, which ranked high on her favorite parts of his body. "Okay, pull."

He did, and they popped apart, leaving him with sticky duct-tape bracelets but otherwise free.

"Thanks." They bolted for the window.

Climbing out, Caitlin performed some rapid calculations - the speed she would gain by kicking off her shoes versus the possibility of stepping on something that would give her tetanus? She decided to gamble. The shoes were done for anyway. Which, crap. She'd loved these shoes.

They sprinted through the maze of warehouses, evading the voices and the shouts, until they reached a main drag. By sheer crazy luck, there was a crosstown bus pulling up to a corner.

Cisco had followed a childhood habit of keeping a bus pass in his pocket, away from his wallet, just in case it was stolen. That was a good thing, because everything - cells, wallet, purse, everything - was still back at the warehouse.

The bus driver looked at them, then shook his head and closed the door. He'd seen weirder than a wild-eyed couple, dusty and dirty, one with bare feet and the other with torn duct tape around his wrists. This was Central City.

They collapsed into seats, wheezing.

Once they'd caught their breath, he said, "Best team ever?"

"Definitely."

They hi-fived, then she leaned over to kiss him. He smiled and put a hand up to her face. She had just enough time to wonder if that was a good idea before -

"Um," he said against her lips.

"Did you just tape yourself into my hair?"

"Possibly?"

FINIS


End file.
